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StoryDangers of leaving kids in cars on hot days noted
| Wednesday, Aug 1 2007 8:40 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Aug 1 2007 8:42 PM
It only takes a few minutes for a child left in a car on a hot day to become overheated and have trouble breathing.
If left alone a little longer, that child could die.
Laura Petersen knows firsthand the heartache of such an accident. Her granddaughter, Kaitlyn Marie Russell, was left in a hot van by a baby sitter on Aug. 15, 2000.
The 6-month-old child's body temperature was 107 degrees when she was taken to a hospital. Doctors were unable to revive her.
"I prayed she would survive, but it was over 100 degrees outside that day and I knew in my heart she wouldn't make it," Petersen said.
She and the child's mother, Tammy Russell, were determined that Kaitlyn would not have died in vain, Petersen said Wednesday at a news conference outside the Department of Human Services. They founded "4 R Kids Sake" and continue to raise public awareness about "Kaitlyn's Law."
Passed in 2001, the law makes it a citable offense to leave children under the age of 6 unattended in a vehicle without supervision of someone at least 12 years old.
August has been declared Purple Ribbon Month to educate and increase public awareness of the dangers of leaving children unattended in or around vehicles.
Sheriff Donny Youngblood was one of several officials at the Human Services building who spoke about the importance of Kaitlyn's Law.
He asked people to not only look out for their own children, but also the children of others. Anyone who sees a child left in a car on a hot day should call authorities, he said.
"We happen to live in a place that is probably more susceptible to this type of event that anywhere else in the country," Youngblood said.
For more information, go to www.4rkidssake.org.